Happy Tuesday everyone.

Today In Nascar History

February 17, 1991: Ernie Irvan wins his only Daytona 500, finishing ahead Sterling Marlin under caution. Joe Ruttman finishes third, Rick Mast fourth and Dale Earnhardt fifth.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

From Ed

NOTICE TO ALL DRIVERS:::: When you see Jr coming, you better move over and let him pass, or he will wreck you and then "whoop your ass" if you don't like it.

LOL…you got that right!

So, what does everyone think of what happened between Vickers and Junior?  I haven’t heard from anyone and I am very curious.  I’ll keep my mouth shut, at least for now.  Let me know!

Bits and Pieces

Childress Earns Humanitarian Honors: The philanthropic efforts of Richard Childress, who, with his family, established the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, are being recognized through humanitarian awards and financial support for the Institute. Since December, Childress has been honored with the 2008 NASCAR Home Depot Humanitarian Award and the N.C. Motorsports Association’s Achievement in Motorsports Tribute Award, given in part for charitable work off the track. "Richard's generous spirit and commitment to this cause will bring awareness to pediatric traumatic injuries and help save the lives of countless children in the future,” said Frank Bifulco, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of The Home Depot. The NCMA Tribute Award honored Childress, who celebrates his 40th anniversary as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner in 2009, for his accomplishments in motor sports, his compassion and philanthropic efforts off the track, and his individual integrity and character. Childress’s work on behalf of the Institute has earned significant recent contributions. The Institute received a $1 million commitment from John L. Morris, founder and chief executive officer of Bass Pro Shops, and a $1 million pledge has been made by a private family foundation that wishes to remain anonymous. The Childress family and the Medical Center are working with corporations and individuals to raise $20 million needed to establish the Institute. Because of significant programs and infrastructure in place at the Medical Center, the Institute will devote most of the monies to research, education, treatment and prevention and to raising national awareness about childhood injuries. For more information, visit www.childresspediatrictrauma.org, www.wfubmc.edu or call (866) 635-8190.(PR)

Petty not happy bout merger: Kyle Petty is displeased with the way Petty Enterprises was consumed by Gillett Evernham Motorsports — then renamed Richard Petty Motorsports — and was "crushed" the new team co-opted a bit of his personal history. "Petty Enterprises ceased to exist when it left (ancestral home) Level Cross, N.C.," said Petty, who does not have a Sprint Cup ride for the first time since 1979. "It further ceased to exist whenever the other group bought it, and that's just a fact of life." But Petty was perhaps most irked by RPM's move to use, without consultation, a #44 Dodge for A.J. Allmendinger with the paint scheme Petty bore in winning in his first start, a 1979 ARCA race at Daytona. Petty drove the #44 at Petty Enterprises until his son Adam was killed in 2000, then he switched to his son's #45. "I was crushed. I was hurt and I'm not going to get over it for a while," Petty, 48, said. "And that's a personal thing. That's me. That's not … anything to do with anything else. That was my paint job and my car and my number and my stuff from my first win. Not for Petty Enterprises or GEM or whoever that is."(St Petersburg Times)

Daytona 500 fast TV Ratings: The rain-shortened Daytona 500 last Sunday (2/15) reaffirmed its status as one of America’s premier annual sports events. Despite losing to rain what are historically its most-watched laps, this year’s average audience of 16.0 million viewers places the Daytona 500 ahead of many of the country’s iconic sports events including the NCAA Final Four (15.4 million viewers), Beijing Olympics (15.2 million), 2008 NBA Finals (14.9 million), Kentucky Derby (14.2 million) and the final round of The Masters (13.1 million) and US Open (12.1 million). The Daytona 500 also maintained its position as the No. 1 motorsports event on television, outdistancing last year’s Indianapolis 500 by 122% (7.2 million).  The 2009 Daytona 500 on Fox on FOX averaged a 9.2/19 household rating/share according to fast national figures released by Nielsen Media Research. This year’s edition of the Great American Race is the second broadcast by FOX since 2001 negatively impacted by the weather. The last rain-shortened Daytona 500 came in 2003, and posted a 9.8/21, with an average audience of 16.8 million viewers. Last year’s full 200 lap, 500 mile race earned a 10.2/20, with 17.8 million viewers. Clearly, Sunday’s rain interruption prevented the Daytona 500 from enjoying the explosive viewership growth it typically experiences over its final laps. The 2009 Daytona 500 was called due to rain with 48 of 200 laps remaining. Last year, viewers arrived in droves to catch the conclusion of the race, lifting the rating for the last half-hour of racing +16% higher than the previous half-hour (12.1 vs. 10.4). On Sunday, the final half-hour grew by just +1% over the previous half-hour (9.8 vs. 9.7).(Fox Sports PR)

Gilliland to drive the #71 for next four races UPDATE: the TRG team — that stands for The Racers Group — led by owner Kevin Buckler, whose car, driven by Mike Wallace, missed the Daytona 500 by one position. That one position cost $500,000, Buckler said. "Last place in the Daytona 500 pays $250,000, and I had a sponsor who was ready to come aboard for the race, if we made it, for another $250,000. So it hurt." But Buckler is entered in the California race next week, and he plans to attempt the next four races with driver David Gilliland, who was the odd man out in the Yates organization this year.(Orlando Sentinel) UPDATE: David Gilliland will drive the #71 TRG Motorsports Chevy in round two of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Sunday, February 22. Daytona 500 winning crew chief, Richard "Slugger" Labbe, has also joined the team. The 33-year old Gilliland raced in 2008 for Robert Yates behind the wheel of the #38 and was the 2007 Daytona 500 Pole Winner. Gilliland is originally from Riverside, California, just up the road from Fontana. He cut his teeth on ovals all over the West Coast in his ascension up the NASCAR ladder. Slugger Labbe knows how to win in NASCAR's premier league. As a crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc., he won two races at Daytona including the 2003 Daytona 500. Labbe most recently worked with Red Bull Racing in driver development [and was Mike Skinner's crew chief in his attempt to make the 2009 Daytona 500 in the #23 Chevy]. TRG Motorsports' Kevin Buckler is determined to establish the team in the Sprint Cup Series. "Daytona was a hard lesson," Buckler said. "We are determined to put the right pieces in place to be successful. David has the most experience in the COT car of any driver available. Slugger gives us a lot of experience working with the COT car. We were short a few pieces at Daytona, but I believe we have put the right people together to have a successful weekend in California."(TRG Motorsports PR)

R&L Carriers to sponsor Kenseth for four races: R&L Carriers is an associate sponsor for #17-Matt Kenseth. For a total of four races this season (May 24-Charlotte, July 4-Daytona, Sept. 6-Atlanta and Oct. 11-California), Kenseth’s Ford will prominently display the green and yellow colors of R&L as well as the company’s logo, according to Donald R. DeLuca, vice president and general counsel for R&L. For the remainder of the Sprint Cup season, R&L Carriers brand will be located on either the rear quarter panel or on the TV panel. This is the final year of a three-year contract R&L has with Kenseth.(Wilmington News Journal)

Farmers Insurance to sponsor Kvapil at California: Yates Racing announced that Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, will sponsor Travis Kvapil and the #28 Ford Fusion in the February 22nd Sprint Cup Series race at Fontana, California. "It’s another great opportunity for the #28 team and Yates Racing to have Farmers Insurance on board for next weekend’s race at Fontana,” said Yates Racing driver Travis Kvapil. “Yates and Ford Racing have a great intermediate track program which gives us a lot to look forward to next weekend at Fontana.”
“This is an exciting first for Farmers and we are pleased to sponsor Travis Kvapil in next Sunday’s Sprint Cup race,” commented Kevin Kelso, Farmers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “The Farmers Insurance family of 21,000 employees and 26,000 agents from coast-to-coast are long time fans of NASCAR. We will all be cheering for Yates Racing and a big win for Travis Kvapil.” The #28 Farmers Insurance Ford Fusion will debut next Friday, February 20th during opening practice of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race weekend at Fontana, Calif. For more information about Farmers Group, visit farmers.com.(Yates Racing PR)

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2009 Daytona 500:
Total number of commercials: 126
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 64
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 42
Total number of ‘Digger’ appearances: 19
Total number of three-minute movie previews during broadcast (for 'Watchmen'): 1
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 8 min. 45 sec.
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:20 pm
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:48 pm
Total minutes: 208
Minutes of race broadcast: 150
Minutes of commercials: 58
Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of stars in sunglasses: 1 (Tom Cruise)
Number of legends waving the green flag: 1 (Bobby Allison)
Total race brdcst time 150 Total comm. brdcst time 58

Just Tony being Tony

Monte Dutton/gastongazette

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – I have to plead guilty to sentiments that were less than altruistic. I had been waiting for the first Tony Moment with great relish.

Tony Stewart the car owner has seemed awfully domesticated over the past month. He’s been mostly cheerful, almost always cooperative and a bit too agreeable. I knew Tony hadn’t drunk the Kool-Aid, but there were times when I thought he might be sedated.

I wasn’t disappointed on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. What happened to Stewart and Ryan Newman would’ve made Ronald Reagan (the actor, as opposed to the president) hurl an epithet. During practice on Saturday morning, Ryan Newman’s Chevy blew a tire. It spun directly in front of Stewart’s Chevy. Both cars were thus rendered incapable of competing in the Daytona 500. Both drivers started near the back of the field in backup cars.

Newman and Stewart are teammates. Neither could’ve done anything about it. They were drafting together during practice, and when Newman’s right-rear tire exploded, Stewart was inches behind and had nowhere and no time to avoid the spinning car. Stewart wasn’t mad at Newman. He was mad at Goodyear.

Tony the Owner went on vacation. Tony the Diplomat lost his post. Tony the Tiger said, “Relax, I got this.”
Facing the assembled mob with conscience clear and tongue loose, here are just the highlights of what Stewart had to say about “the gold and blue”:

“Ah, it’s just a Goodyear right rear tire. So, same thing everybody has been talking about all week. Same stuff that we always talk about every year is the failures that Goodyear has. I think that’s part of their marketing campaign. The more we talk about it, the more press they get. I think they forget that it’s supposed to be in a good way, not a bad way.

“I’m just so tired of talking about Goodyear, its ridiculous. I’m just over it.

“Apparently, this is their marketing strategy to get press. I’m just tired of talking about them; tired of them being an issue. And us talking about them right now isn’t going to change anything because it falls on deaf ears and that won’t change.

“If it was because two guys wrecked and it was a driver’s mistake, that’s one thing. But a manufacturer that has the sole deal here, they don’t have any competition, and they can’t give us something to keep us from having problems like this. So I don’t know. I’m just amazed at how much everybody kisses their butts right now.

“I’m ticked right now. I’m not happy, I’m not cordial, I’m not nice, I’m not anything right now, and I shouldn’t be.”

When a reporter asked Stewart how the crash “affected his chances of winning the Daytona 500” – no, it wasn’t exactly a question reminiscent of Red Smith or Jim McKay – Stewart snapped, “I don’t know, rocket scientist. I’m sitting here with a back-up car. What do you think?”
   
In conclusion, he told another reporter, “You are a (bleeping) idiot.” And then reiterated it.

Stewart’s mood improved noticeably when he went out and won the Nationwide Series race. He has a sense of the dramatic and is typically at his best with back against a wall and the world closing in, whether real or imagined.

Newman, by the way, was more tactful (less tactful would’ve been almost impossible) but no less critical of Goodyear.

Don’t ever count Tony Stewart out. But … keep a safe distance.

The Good, Bad, & Ugly

Vickers Got What He Deserved As Kenseth Wins The Daytona 500

Ron Thornton/speedwaymedia.com

Poor ole Brian Vickers. He was just minding his own business, throws a GOOD block in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who Vickers claims drove up into him. Then, that nasty goon punted our hero Vickers to the fence in Sunday's Daytona 500, right in front of the field. Oh, the humanity! It was the race's UGLY moment. Poor Brian. Poor revisionist, moronic, whiny little twit Brian.

Am I the only one who saw that in blocking Junior, Vickers actually hit him? A block is when you get in the way, not when you actually make contact with the guy's front fender with your rear quarter panel. It should have been Junior wrecking, not our Saint Brian. Too BAD the television crew didn't see what was obvious to the rest of us. Too BAD Junior cut back a bit too soon to send Vickers in front of everybody. Did Junior take Vickers out on purpose? Maybe, but it was close. Do I care? Nope. I still remember Talladega.

What did I think of the Daytona 500? Well, it was like going on a hot date, only to discover the person is only interested in being friends, ever. It was akin to hungrily heading out to the local buffet, only to discover they only serve salad. It was like going to a great movie, only to see the final five minutes go up in flames in the projection booth. The ending stunk. Hey, it was no one's fault things went BAD in the end, that it rained just as Matt (Mr. Excitement) Kenseth sailed in front of Elliott Sadler to take the win on the final green flag lap. Maybe it did the trick for you, but I was sure left unfulfilled. Thank God for my wife's chili and my sister's potato salad. I said I was left unfulfilled. I didn't say I went hungry.

To build up our interest, in order to add some color to the fellow, I suggest Kenseth grow some facial hair. Look at the GOOD reaction Jimmie Johnson has received from his beard. Maybe the Busch brothers should do the same. It might be worth a try. A few years ago, I shaved off my facial hair and those who love me the most demanded I grow it back. It appears there is a fine line between being an ultra attractive specimen of manhood and being a fat faced, short, chubby, bald headed little gnome. Grow the hair, boys, grow the hair.

However, genuine tears of joy is always nice to see. Kenseth showed us what the win meant to him. Sadler showed us how the loss felt to him. Maybe the race wasn't so BAD after all. Maybe I'm becoming a soft touch in my old, ahem, elder age.

For me, Kyle Busch is a guilty pleasure. He is a self-indulgent jerk who drives the wheels off a car in order to win, taking no prisoners. BAD Kyle, but even though I can smile when he wrecks, I also find myself smiling when he wins. Junior's little tilt with Vickers took Wild Thing out of a race he could well have won. That was unfortunate, unless your last name happens to be Kenseth, who barely missed getting caught in that mayhem.

Richard Petty Motorsports had a GOOD day. A.J. Allmendinger finished third, Sadler was fifth, and Reed Sorenson came home in ninth. Allmendinger's #44 was dressed up in the same colors Kyle Petty drove to victory in his first ARCA race there thirty years ago. Too BAD the son of the King isn't happy about it. Kyle says the Petty brand died when the company left Level Cross, when it was bought out the first time, never mind the second. So, the scion was not happy the new outfit assumed a piece of his personal history. Did I mention that the company with his daddy's name and face on the package enjoyed a GOOD day?

For Michael Waltrip, Daytona has been the best of times and the worst of times. Last weekend they were pretty GOOD, as he finished 8th on Sunday while his car driven by David Reutimann was 13th. Meanwhile, Childress and Roush each had two in the Top Ten, with Earnhardt-Ganassi and Stewart-Haas both with one.

It was an UGLY day for Joe Gibbs, with none of his three cars in the Top 25, with a pair of them 35th or worse. It wasn't a great day either for Hendrick, as his boys came home in 12th, 15th, 26th, and 31st. That was GOOD compared to Red Bull's 35th and 40th.  

Getting back to the Junior-Vickers controversy, Earnhardt failed to see a big "88" waving up and down on a big pole and drove by his pit stall. He later failed to see the painted lines in which to park his car in the pits. So, if his eyes were so BAD on that day, he probably didn't even see Vickers' itty, bitty car on the track when he pulled back up off the bottom. Just another theory I'm working on.

Some were new teams, some were small teams, and finishing in the Top 25 to open the season is a pretty big deal for them. Marcos Ambrose (JTG Daugherty), Bobby Labonte (Hall of Fame), Regan Smith (Furniture Row), Bill Elliott (Wood Brothers), Terry Labonte (Phil Parsons), and Scott Riggs (Tommy Baldwin) were GOOD enough to finish between 17th and 25th on Sunday. It might be too early to break out the bubbly, but I think a few cold beers would be in order.

One race down, four to go. The eight guys on the BAD side of the Top 35 line in 2009 owner's points include Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Vickers, Jeremy Mayfield, Travis Kvapil, and Joey Logano. It is too early to hit the panic button yet. They can wait at least until March before they need to start hammering down on that.

Florida has come and gone, as California beckons us this weekend. Of the seven stock races presented over Speed Weeks, the Daytona 500 was the less spectacular of the bunch. With three slated for the Auto Club Speedway this weekend we shall see if the trend continues. Here is hoping the best show is the one on Sunday. Enjoy the races!

Cross’s Words

Leaders should be afforded opportunity to race leaders

By Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM

NASCAR took a step forward on Thursday when it announced single-file restarts will be implemented in the final 20 laps -- instead of the final 10 -- during events in all three of NASCAR's top-tier series during the 2009 season.

On Sunday, the bigger issue reared its head: double-file restarts with lapped cars mixing it up with the leaders. That is what needs to be addressed now -- right now, before any other on-track competition issues are considered.

The single-file restart rule was changed to give lead-lap drivers a better chance to go for the victory instead of having to contend with lapped traffic on the inside as they do on double-file restarts that have been the norm.

"We just felt that for the cars that had earned their way up to the top during late stages of the race, it will give them a better opportunity to compete for the win," said Kerry Tharp, NASCAR's director of communications for competition.

"So instead of a single-file restart with 10 to go, that will now be with 20 laps to go. The beneficiary rule is still intact as it was; there is no beneficiary inside of 10 laps."

The beneficiary is the "Lucky Dog," the first car not on the lead lap, which during the rest of a race is given its lap back when a caution flag comes out.

Of course what everyone stands behind is safety -- no racing back to the line, everyone knows the first car not on the lead lap gets the free pass so the field is frozen under caution. That's great for those trailing the leaders.

The problem is when the green flies again and the lapped cars are running up front with the leaders and trying to race for position to possibly pick up the Lucky Dog the next time the yellow comes out.

The leaders are up front for a reason -- they've earned it, either on the track or by pit strategy. The leaders should stay up front with the others who have earned their positions, not be mired behind lapped traffic on restarts.

Double-file the restarts with the field in position as it runs -- not with lapped cars to the inside -- should be the next competition bulletin issued by NASCAR. It can only help the racing (and minimize the wrecking of front-runners by those seemingly all-too-eager to leave their mark early in the race).

Fan's Rant of the Week

NASCAR blew this call big time. When your top 10 consists of one driver that had led a lap prior to the last green-flag lap of a race with nearly 50 laps remaining -- you have a bad finish.

If this is the marquee event of your series, you run it to the finish. Whether you have an hour delay, or two days of delay, you run 500 miles. You don't take away from previous champions by putting a name on that trophy that didn't accomplish the same thing. The same thing should apply to the Indy 500, 24 hours at Daytona or LeMans. Finish the race, it deserves to maintain that dignity.

I don't have anything against Kenseth, but I think NASCAR took the opportunity to finally give Jack Roush a Daytona 500 trophy. I am a Stewart fan, and it was easier to accept last year's loss on a last-lap pass than it was to watch any chance yesterday be taken away without a race to the finish.

NASCAR needs to realize that this year took away from the prestige of the event, and destroyed the momentum that the previous two 500s had going. I guess we can't ask for 3 great finishes in a row, but it would've been nice to see them finish ... period. -- Jared A. Olschewski

Thumbs up

• Matt Kenseth -- He qualified 39th and finished in Victory Lane (technically the car was on pit road when the race was called for rain, but forget the details). There is not an asterisk on the Harley J. Earl trophy that denotes the race was 152 laps instead of 200. It merely says 2009 Daytona 500 champion.

• Richard Petty Motorsports -- Three cars in the top 10: A.J. Allmendinger (third), Elliott Sadler (fifth) and Reed Sorenson (ninth).

• Clint Bowyer -- A fourth-place finish outta the box with a new team is a great start, whether Mother Nature intervened or not.

Impressed by ...

Mark Martin remaining extremely confident that he could challenge for the win, even while rain was falling and he was 16th. Who's to say he would not have won the race?

Thumbs down

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Look at the bright side: It can only get better from here. Between the pit-road woes and being the catalyst for a 10-car wreck ... next week can't be any worse.

• Joey Logano -- The No. 20 has been in this position before. In 2002, the team finished 43rd in the Daytona 500 and recovered to win the championship. No, lightning won't strike twice -- but "Been There, Done That" T-shirts would be a nice gesture. Or maybe "SSDD" tees. Your call, rook.

• Digger -- No matter how it's spun, a cartoon gopher isn't going to lure kids to stock-car racing. Want folks to laugh at Digger? Have Bill Murray drop a frag.

Disappointed by ...

Junior, and not because he "misjudged" getting off the apron and clipped Brian Vickers. Rather, it was another race in which he was forced to press because of self-inflicted wounds. Until that's resolved, Junior Nation will merely be a fan base cheering for the most popular driver -- not a championship driver.

Up next

It's billed as the West Coast Debut of NASCAR: the Auto Club 500 at Fontana. (I assumed folks on the left coast had TV and saw the Daytona 500 until I was enlightened: It's a marketing play on words -- get it?!)

And while Matt Kenseth has a great track record at Cali (two wins, six top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in 14 starts), know this: No driver has won the first two races in a season since Jeff Gordon in 1997.

The chase is on ...

One down, 25 to go until the Chase field is set at Richmond:

Top 12 following Race 1 of 36

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

Emotion overwhelms relieved Kenseth

Ed Hinton/espn.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Just Saturday evening, after dinner, Matt Kenseth sat in his motor home with his wife, Katie, "telling her, 'I'm really getting fed up with not winning, with not being a contender.'"

Less than 24 hours later, Kenseth was standing in Victory Lane at the Daytona 500, not sure which was streaming down his face more -- rain, or tears of joy.

It was both. And one led to the other. The rain brought the win that brought the tears.

"It's gonna be really wet out here, because I'm crying like a baby," said the man with the long-running rap as a robot because he shows so little emotion. A while back, even the series sponsor was running TV commercials about him in which he turned out to be cardboard stand-up figures, copied again and again.

But here Kenseth stood in the blessed rain that had just shortened the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2003, with NASCAR officials calling the race after 152 laps, or only 380 miles.

Kenseth had suffered through last year as the "other" winless former Cup champion, with Jeff Gordon getting all the attention for his drought.

On Sunday morning, "It's not like I had a bad feeling about today, it's just that we haven't been a serious contender for a championship in a few years. We've been able to win races here and there, but we didn't win any last year," he said.

And that's why the emotion welled up in him, "just to win a race [any race] after our year last year," he said. "I didn't know if I was ever going to do that again …"

This was not only the first Daytona 500 win for Kenseth, 36, but his first restrictor-plate race win.

He'd been pretty down on himself in general for a while, but especially about plate racing.

"I don't feel I'm the best, really, at plate racing," he said. "I feel like a lot of times I make mistakes, which is really frustrating. I won't get my car in the right place at the right time."

Now, "to be able to put it all together and win this race is just really overwhelming.

"I'm just unbelievably thankful and humbled right now."

Unbelievably humbled and heartbroken was Elliott Sadler, who would have been an even bigger Cinderella story, but wound up going from first to fifth in what turned out to be the final shuffling in the draft under the green flag.

By the 146th lap, all crews and drivers knew the rain was coming fast. Sadler, who'd been dumped by his team just before Christmas, then gone to court, then got his ride back, led the race and hurtled toward a storybook finish.

But Kenseth, pushed by Kevin Harvick, got a run on Sadler off the fourth turn and took the lead moments before the caution came out due to a crash, and the rain started at the same time.

"To be half a lap short of being the champion of the Daytona 500 is very emotional to me," Sadler said. "Very hard to swallow, very emotional."

He spoke in chopped sentences.

"Had a chance to win it. Just made one mistake off Turn 4. I didn't drag the brake enough."

What he meant was that with the combination of bump-drafting and the huge aerodynamic pushes from other cars, the leader often gets shoved so far out front as to give his pursuers a gap in which to build momentum and make a run on him.

"Kevin and Matt had a really good run, and I didn't know which way to block them," Sadler said.

"My crew chief had told me for the last 45 minutes of the race that it was raining on the radar. I said, 'Welcome to Elliott Sadler's world. It's probably raining all the way around the racetrack but where we need it.'

"And the lap I get passed in Turn 1, it starts raining in Turn 3."

Actually the rain started a bit sooner than that, Kenseth reckoned. "When I cleared him, there were big raindrops through 1 and 2," Kenseth said. "I knew it was getting close, and then they had that accident where they threw the yellow.

"I didn't know it was going to be the pass [for the win], but I knew it had the potential to be."

Kenseth had been thinking for a few minutes, "on that last restart, sitting behind Elliott, that if I could get around him and hold the lead a little bit … I didn't think we were going to pit again. I thought the rain was coming. [Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer] said it was coming. You could see the sky getting darker. It was sprinkling for a while.

"So I got a run on Elliott and turned left to get position where he couldn't block it. He kind of just stayed in his lane, and I had momentum, and Kevin saw I had momentum and hung a left and went behind me."

Harvick, who finished second after pushing Kenseth to the front, felt "kind of like Elliott. Another lap and you never know what would have happened."

Yet another near-Cinderella man, AJ Allmendinger, finished third in his first outing for the newly formed Richard Petty Motorsports, and Clint Bowyer squeezed by Sadler for fourth.

For Harvick, the race ended "kind of bittersweet, just from the fact that Matt's the one who pushed me to my Daytona 500 win [in 2007]. In the end, it's kind of weird how that stuff works out."

Dale Earnhardt Jr shows his fiery side

by Jeremy Dunn, Atlanta NASCAR Examiner

That is the kind of fire and dynamism that I personally want to see from NASCAR’s most recognized figure.  No, I am not referring to the foolhardy driving tactics that took out Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch, and a host of other competitors.  I am talking about his emotional eruption after the race.  That could have been years of pinned up frustration. 

While Earnhardt Jr is admired by a legion of devoted fans, he is constantly in the limelight and under a sometimes hostile microscope.  Sometimes, in order to appease the media and fans, he does not allow his emotions to get the best of him.  He may refrain from verbally attacking another driver even when they may deserve a tongue lashing.  Sometimes, he is quick to accept blame.  I must concede, I was a little disappointed last year at Richmond when Kyle Busch wrecked Earnhardt Jr, and he did not seem as upset as one would imagine.  I mean, five years earlier, Kevin Harvick was ready to stomp on Ricky Rudd’s face for a similar incident. 

However, at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr showed everyone that he is human.  What do you know?  It seems as if everyone expects Earnhardt Jr to rope the moon.  He is supposed to say the right things, and should own at least five championships by now.  I guess since he does not own the achievements of Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, drivers that began their careers around the same time, he is incredibly overrated, right? 

That is the price you pay when you are the son of a seven-time champion, and a larger than life figure in NASCAR. 

Earnhardt Jr had a maddening day at Daytona, and let everyone know about it. 

After learning of Vickers’ post-accident statements, Earnhardt Jr told his spotter, “If he wants to come by the bus after the race and get his ass whooped, I’ll do it.” 

Now, what Vickers told the nationally televised audience, “We’re all racing for the Lucky Dog there and my goal was to keep Junior behind me and I went to block him.  I beat him to the yellow line and then he just turned us. He hit me the first time on the way down, which is fine.  We all do that.  Then he came back and just hooked me in the left rear.  To wreck somebody intentionally like that in front of the entire field is really kind of dangerous.  That’s my problem with it, but apparently he wanted a caution pretty bad.” 

Vickers also implied that NASCAR should have penalized Earnhardt Jr just as they penalized Jason Leffler five laps in the Nationwide Series race.

After Earnhardt Jr climbed out of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, he let his emotions speak for themselves. 

“I went to the bottom of him. Vickers drove me below the yellow line.  He ran into me and sent me below the line…It was unfortunate man.  If he wasn’t so damn reckless, we would have never had that problem.  That would never happen.  As far as I am concerned, it is all his responsibility,” said the exasperated driver.

As far as a penalty for his driving, Earnhardt Jr vehemently stated his opinion. 

“Penalize me?  For what?  I got ran into and sent below the yellow line.  What the hell?  I don’t want to go down there.  I got sent there.  What the hell am I supposed to do?  Then what am I supposed to do?  Stay down there?  No. I got to get back up on the racetrack,” he said.

Obviously, there are two very conflicting versions of the story, and fans and media members are quick to jump on the ‘blame Junior’ bandwagon.  After all, Earnhardt Jr was already miffed with himself and NASCAR after two pit road penalties.  Many fell that road rage got the best of him. 

In my previous article, I briefly explained my take on the incident. I think that Earnhardt Jr wanted Vickers to spin.  By clipping Vickers’ left rear, typically, the car would spin into the infield grass away from the rest of the field; however, the bump was not hard enough to abruptly send the 83 car uncontrollably sideways and into the grass. Vickers had time to attempt regain control of the car; however, this time, he may have overcorrected, sending him up the banking, and the melee ensued.  Earnhardt Jr did not anticipate Vickers spinning in front of everyone. 

Should he have been penalized?  Based on the fact that Jason Leffler was penalized, yes, NASCAR should have been more consistent.  Now, we have to hear discontented fans moan and groan about the powers that be, and claim all types of conspiracy theories, blah blah blah. 

NASCAR fans want excitement.  They want personality.  They want something to talk about beside the water cooler.  Well, this whole Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brian Vickers encounter encompasses all of that. 

Whose Brain Fart Was Worse? NASCAR’s, Earnhardt Jr., or Fox’s?

Ed Coombs/gaternews.com

Some of my observations on the 2009 Daytona 500:
Dale Earnhardt Jr:
After the red flag was displayed for rain and the drivers got out of their cars Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke about his day during the Daytona 500. “The AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet has been good all day and into the night here”, he said. “We worked real hard to get our lap back. That was my mistake coming on to pit road and missing my box,” he said about his first pit road mishap where he had to reenter the pits because he missed his stall. Later, he received a 1 lap penalty for pitting outside the box. This had him a lap down and he was hell bent on getting back on the lead lap because he felt he had a good enough car to win.
“On the back straightaway, I was a lap down trying to get my lap back and I had a really, really good run and Brian (Vickers),” he explained. “He was side-by-side with somebody for the lead and I went on the inside and he drove me down, down almost into the grass below the line and I didn’t have much control over the car at that point. I was just trying to get back on the race track and I hit him in the quarter panel and spun him out. If he’d have just held his ground, I was the lapped car. I wasn’t even racing for position. That was unfortunate. I got a run on Vickers and the guy he was beside. I went to the bottom of ‘em. Vickers drove me below the line. He ran in to me and sent me below the line. I was just trying not to run into, drive in to the grass and get my car under control and try and get above the line so I get penalized for being down there, I ran in to his quarter panel and spun him out.”
When asked about Vickers blocking he said, “He shouldn’t have started that, it would have never happened. If he had held his ground, who knows? He would have probably got the back or got the position back eventually, but at that point in the race, that was pretty reckless.” Then someone in the media asked the craziest thing about him having any concern about NASCAR potentially penalizing him, “Penalize me? For what?” he said. “I got ran into and sent below the line. What the hell? I don’t want to go down there, I didn’t aim to go down there, and I got sent down there. What the hell am I supposed to do? Then what am I supposed to do? Stay down there? No. I got to get back up on the race track. It was unfortunate man. If he wasn’t so damn reckless, we would have never had that problem that would never happen. As far as I am concerned, it is all his responsibility.”

A few things from above caught my eye. First of all he seemed to forget his penalty causing him to be a lap down. Second, he actually thought he took out a leader? Unfortunately, he took out the guy who he was battling for the ‘lucky dog pass’ and a couple of the strongest cars of the day with is antics. Many said that Earnhardt should have received a penalty for rough driving like other drivers, from other series, received from NASCAR over the course of Speed Weeks. Now, I am not Earnhardt, so I really do not know if he purposely wrecked Vickers. What I did see was that “really, really good run” he talked about and Vickers sliding over to block him. Earnhardt had to avoid Vickers and slid down perilously close to the grass where he could lose control. Instead of lifting off the gas or hitting the brakes it appears (again, I am not Earnhardt, so I am speculating) he simply stood on the gas and doing so, as Vickers was trying to maintain his position, caused the contact that took out the front half of the field. He also accepted zero responsibility for the mess that was caused and it angered me.
Earnhardt reportedly offered to meet Vickers in the garage area after the incident overheard on his scanner. Look, I have always like his demeanor, his honesty and wide open approach to dealing with the media but his brain farts were worsened by NASCAR’s own brain fart. He should have gotten the same exact treatment when Jason Leffler hit Steve Wallace in almost the same manner, near the same spot on the track during the Nationwide Series race on Saturday. That was a 5 lap penalty for rough driving. Jr. can not say he wasn’t driving rough and neither will I. He needs to focus and focus now! Otherwise the Junior Nation will begin to find someone that seems to have their acts together to cheer for.
Television Coverage – race start times:
Did anyone notice all those old victory lane celebrations from ‘back in the day’ occurred DURING DAYLIGHT??!?!? The weather services were dead on with their forecast for rain Sunday in the early evening. While I understand the need for television contracts and keeping to a schedule but the only part of the almost 2 hour pre race show I saw made me nauseous. “Digger” sucks, its not funny, entertaining or amusing. It’s pathetic and makes me angry every time I see him. The camera angle looks cool ONCE!! Thing is Fox makes you think they thought this up. A sorry guy, that camera angle is one used for years. I recall the tri- oval at the Lowes Motor Speedway having one on the grass back in the late 1990’s. Stop the trivialization of NASCAR with gimmicky garbage and cover the race. Do you think anyone is coming to watch “digger- the wood chuck”. What a colossal brain fart that character is.
That’s it for an anticlimactic 2009 Daytona 500 from me anyways!!

NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK